The Atlanta Braves announced Wednesday they will forgo capacity restrictions at Truist Park and will sell tickets for all seats beginning with their May 7 home game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Braves already have played two homestands this season. They set capacity at 33 percent for their first homestand April 9-15 against the Phillies and Miami Marlins, and are at 50 percent for their current homestand that started Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and will conclude against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
When professional sports resumed last year after a pause at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in May, all professional sports were first played without fans before moving to reduced capacity in many markets.
The Texas Rangers were the first professional team to go to full capacity, but they have struggled to sell all tickets to home games at their new retractable-roof ballpark, Globe Life (NYSE:GL) Field. They sold 38,238 tickets to the season opener at their 40,300-seat stadium and have averaged 24,863 fans in 11 dates.
The Braves advanced to the National League Championship Series last season and fell one victory short from a spot in the World Series. But they were a disappointing 11-12 to start the 2021 season, going just 6-6 in home games.
As of Wednesday, the Rangers (40,300), Colorado Rockies (21,363), Houston Astros (20,600), Braves (20,500) and Arizona Diamondbacks (20,000) were the only MLB teams allowing up to 20,000 fans per game, according to The Athletic.
Six MLB teams have averaged at least 13,000 tickets sold per game. The Rangers lead the list followed by the Astros (18,205 in 12 dates), Rockies (15,478, 14 dates), Los Angeles Dodgers (15,179, 12 dates), Braves (15,141, 11 dates) and the St., Louis Cardinals (13,100, 11 dates).
The Toronto Blue Jays, meanwhile, were selling 1,950 tickets per home game for regular-season contests at their spring-training stadium in Dunedin, Fla. The Blue Jays are not playing in Toronto for the second consecutive season because of travel restrictions into Canada. They played home games at Buffalo last season.
--Field Level Media